Deus ex Machina
by pomegranate-stars
Summary: Percy grinned. “Ah, Harpies.” He buffed his fingers on his shirt with a joking air of superiority. “All in a days work.” One of those new demigod fics. Percabeth.
1. Enter The Knowledge

**Hola People! We've all read them. A fic about a new demigod is NOT an original idea, but I really hope this one is one of the good ones. So please enjoy the first chapter of **_**Deus ex Machina. **_

**PS. If anyone can find the well hidden Evanescence reference, I'll be extremely impressed.**

**Disclaimer: I wish...**

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**Chapter One. Enter the Knowledge**.

Um…Hi. Yeah…my name is Maggie Fairchild, short for Margret. Um, Chiron says I should write down everything that happened to me, kind of like a diary. So I guess I will. I think Percy did the same thing, except his is all fancy. Ok. Here I go. It all started at the end of the school year my freshman year.

I walked up the front steps of my high school, my backpack slung over my shoulder, crammed full of the books I'd taken home to study the night before. I was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. It made for a nasty combination, especially since I don't like to read anyway. But I was determined this year. This year, I had had a plan all carefully laid out. I WOULD pass my exams. I'm pretty sure that I aced my math and biology finals. History hadn't gone so well, but if I could get through my English one today, then I'd be home free, because all I had after that was PE. Let's just say, I was pumped.

"Maggie!"

I turned, brushing my plain shoulder length brown hair out of my eyes and smiled. "Hey, Grover."

The curly haired boy returned my grin. "Hi. Ready for English?"

I groaned. "Ready as I'll ever be." I remember, when I first met Grover, you know, before I knew about it all, I thought he was weird. He followed me around everywhere and was always watching me. Finally, I think I just accepted the fact that the poor kid wanted some friends. Or so I thought.

Grover limped next to me as we made our way to the English classroom. I sat in my desk and he in his, a few yards away from me. He waved and buried himself in his final. I got the feeling that Grover wanted to tell me something big. I had caught him on the phone talking excitedly with a girl a few days ago and had teased him mercilessly about it. The strange thing was, Grover seemed to find it the height of hilarity that he was being teased about this girl. He kept muttering, "Me and Annabeth. Oh man, Percy would…" and then he'd explode into laughter again. Go figure.

I focused on my English final. Question one. _A motpaher deos ont ues het orwds… _I squeezed my eyes shut and looked again. _A metaphor does not use the words..._

Oh man, I was SO ready for this final! It took me the full two hours, a few minutes of staring aimlessly around the room, and a total of six drink breaks, but I got through it feeling rather good about myself. The bell rang and I gathered my things. Grover trotted up to me.

"Hey, Maggie, you've got PE next right? And then you're done?" He glanced around furtively.

"Yep." I patted my desk. "So long, English! See you next year. Good riddance." We left the room. Grover walked me down to the gym.

"I'll hang around and wait for you, ok? I, um, have got to tell you something. And there are a few friends of mine I'd like you to meet."

I grinned. I knew it. "Ok." I drained the last of my diet coke. Grover's eyes zeroed in on the can in my hand.

"Can I have your can?" he asked hopefully. I shrugged. Grover's got this thing, with recycling.

"Sure." I handed it to him and went into the locker room to change.

"Hey, Maggie!" A girl named Nia grinned at me. She was tall and willowy, with short dark hair and sky blue eyes. She was center on our school girl's basketball team. "Heard we're playing Capture the Flag. I sure hope you're on my team!"

I grinned. Something you should know about me. I love love love video games. Especially the ones where you have to command troops into battle or like Harvest Moon, where you had to manage finances and stuff. I really rock at those. Someone once told me I had a "great mind for tactical maneuvers". (coughcoughChironcough) I don't care what you call it. No matter what, I always had a plan. Needless to say, my talents were highly prized in the all powerful world of PE Capture the Flag. The bad part? I absolutely_ despise_ Capture the Flag.

We changed into our uniforms, which were black and yellow, (our school's mascot was the Bumblebees. Go figure.) and headed out onto the soccer field. The coach blew his whistle and motioned for us all to gather round. I noticed Grover sitting up in the stands, munching on something. He sat out of gym because he had muscular dystrophy in his legs. Poor guy. He gave me a cheery wave and took another huge bite out of something. I returned my attention to the coach, who was giving us the end-of-the-year speech about fun and fellowship and not killing each other over a colored piece of fabric.

The teams were decided and the flags hidden. I was voted team captain of my team, the Destroyers, (so cleverly named by a sophomore boy) and instantly began laying out our battle plan, so to speak. Looking back, it kind of makes me laugh at what I thought of as a "battle plan" then compared to now.

"All right." I sketched in the dirt with a stick. "Nia, I need you and your basketball girls to go up around the front. Jack, you take Mary and Jordan the other way. I'll go with you there. Uh…Everyone else, you guys are going to stay here and spread out, guarding our flag. Everyone except…" I studied my team. I had Nia and her basketball girls, a couple of sophomore boys and a few sophomore girls who looked like they'd rather be doing anything but playing Capture the Flag. I zeroed in on them.

"Kayla, Claire and Jessie?" They glanced up at me. "You three are some of the fastest. I need you to be a distraction."

Claire flipped her hair. "If we get caught, can we just sit in jail the whole time?" She asked, clearly bored.

I nodded. "Sure. And if you find out anything we don't know, all you gotta do is signal to someone and we'll bust you out. Everyone know what to do?"

They nodded.

"All right. Let's get to it." I clapped my hands and my team spread out. I glanced up at the other team and scoffed. It was easy to see where their flag was. They had their strongest and fastest surrounding a small oak tree. Suddenly, the hair on the back of my neck stood up straight. I shivered and peered into the surrounding woods. I gasped and stumbled backwards, toppling into Nia.

"Maggie? What's wrong?" She pulled me to my feet.

"E-e-eyes! I-in the w-woods!" I pointed, my voice trembling. Nia peered into the woods.

"Mags, there's nothing there."

I looked harder, then shook my head, embarrassed. Of course there wasn't anything there. "Yeah…you're right."

The game progressed. Claire, Kayla, and Jessie played their parts perfectly and, although they were sent to jail, Nia and her group managed to get to the flag. Jack, Mary, Jordan and I made our way around the back, while Nia and her friends were the second distraction. She and the opposite team circled each other, with the other team lunging occasionally. Nia danced away effortlessly.

"Go." I breathed. Jack and Mary crept swiftly and silently to the tree. No one was paying attention to them, everyone's attention being focused mainly on Nia. Jack and Mary scrabbled for a few moments before Jack triumphantly held up the black fabric.

Nia grinned and bolted back towards our side. Jordan and I were right behind her. Mary turned and was running backwards behind Jack, ready to block any attacks from the opposing team, who had realized that we'd gotten the flag and were all chasing us. Finally, Jack dove across the dividing line and waved the flag in the air victoriously. The coach blew his whistle and Jordan pulled Jack up.

Finally! The stupid game was over! I glanced up with a relieved grin at the bleachers where Grover had been and saw him staring over my head into the woods, a horrified look on his face. He jumped up and began stumbling down the bleachers much too fast for a kid with muscular dystrophy, waving his arms over his head like a mad person. I frowned and turned around.

The breath whooshed from my throat. Nia was wrong. I had seen something in the forest. And it wasn't pretty. I think I screamed. I'm not really sure. The point is, everyone around me turned and looked.

"Ahhh!" Nia screamed. "They have GUNS!"

I stared at her. Guns? Was she insane? There were three of them. And they were NOT normal. The women stepped out of the woods into the brilliant sunlight. Each was dressed in what looked like ancient Greek robes—one in red, one in green and one in blue. They were incredibly pale, as thought they'd never seen an ounce of sunlight in their lives. Their hair was long, down to their ankles and tangled. Plus, each held a glowing sword in her hand, not a gun. Oh, and did I mention…THEY HAD FREAKING WINGS?

The lady in red pointed and let out a harsh cawing sound. The other two took to the skies.

"Run!" shouted the coach. He began herding kids back inside the school. I don't know what happened to me. I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I was so scared; I just stood rooted to the spot and stared at my approaching doom. Suddenly, a rock came flying out of nowhere and smacked the lead lady in the head.

She shrieked and spun on the thrower. Grover stood, a plainly terrified look on his face, clutching two more rocks.

"Grover!" I cried. Seeing him must have snapped me out of it. "What are you doing? We have to get out of here!" I ran to him. Grover threw another rock.

"Away!" He cried. "Go away! Back! Stupid Harpy!"

"Grover!" I pulled on his arm. Grover, not expecting it, fell over. There was a loud snap and I was left staring at the place where Grover's hightops used to be. His shoes were filled with Styrofoam, and instead of feet, his legs ended in two shiny hooves. I had trouble swallowing.

I sat back on my haunches. "Ok. Ok, that's it. I have officially lost my mind." I think I sat there and mumbled about how this was all a dream or some nonsense like that.

Anyway, so all of a sudden, Grover cried, "Maggie!" I looked up to see the blue robes lady floating over me. I shrieked and began to do this funky kind of crab walk backwards. The lady raised her sword. I dimly heard Grover's voice buzzing in my ears. No, of course I didn't die. If I'd died there, why the heck would you be reading this?

No, what happened was, as I was sitting there, holding what I was sure was going to be my last breath, all of a sudden, the lady let out a shriek and exploded. Literally. Standing behind her, when the smoke cleared was…nobody. At this point, I was so confused, I was beginning to get a little miffed. I turned back to look at Grover and saw he was being helped to his feet by a boy with pitch black hair. He was clutching a brilliant bronze sword, and by the way he was holding it, it looked like he could deal out some serious damage with that thing. The boy laughed.

"We can't leave you alone for two seconds, can we Grover?"

Grover grinned. "Oh man, Percy, you have no idea how glad I am to see you." He looked around. "I assume Annabeth is here too?"

The boy, Percy, nodded. "Yeah. She's…" He glanced around. "…somewhere. Let's talk later, shall we?" He pointed at the ladies, who appeared to be regrouping after the loss of one of them.

"I got the one in the green!" I jumped violently as a voice sounded beside my ear. Percy nodded, acknowledging the voice like he listened to disembodied voices all the time. Now, I'd like to tell you that I joined right in the fight, that I picked up a stick and beat those monsters to death and saved everyone. I'd like to…but I can't. Truthfully, I sat and cowered in fear as I watched Percy fight the lady in the red. It only took a few moments for her to explode. Then, as thought it was synchronized, the lady dressed in green exploded too. Grover cheered.

"Way to go, guys!"

Percy grinned. "Ah, Harpies." He buffed his fingers on his shirt with a joking air of superiority. "All in a days work."

A girl's laugh sounded from next to him and she shimmered into view. She was a little shorter than Percy, with long pale blond hair and stormy grey eyes. She grinned at Percy. "Please, Seaweed Brain. I killed two of them."

Percy shrugged. "So? I killed the leader."

"What the HELL are you people smoking?" I cried. I was so lost and confused. I'd apparently just been attacked by Harpies, one of my best friends had hooves, and these random two people had appeared out of no where. Needless to say, I was a little peeved.

"Oh my gods!" Grover ran to me. "Maggie, are you ok?"

I pushed him away and got to my feet. "I'm fine. What the hell is going on?"

Percy and the girl exchanged a guilty glance. Grover sighed.

"Um, Maggie, these are the friends I wanted to introduce you to. This is Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Guys, this is Maggie Fairchild."

Percy capped his sword. Literally. He put a pen cap on it and it turned into a pen. I stared dumbly. At this point, nothing I saw could surprise me. "Nice to meet you." He said, sticking the pen sword thingy into his pockets.

The girl, Annabeth, waved at me. "Hi." She glanced over my shoulder. "Uh, Grover?" She pointed. A group of teachers and students were peering out the door. They were pointing and whispering. Police sirens sounded in the distance.

"Uh-oh." Percy spun Annabeth and me around. "Come on, girls. Time to go." Annabeth shook him off and the four of us took off around the woods and down the street. I noticed Grover was running a lot easier now that his fake feet were off.

"Annabeth? How far are we from camp?"

Camp?

Annabeth bit her lip. "Not far. Do you have any money?"

Percy sighed and dug in his pocket.

"Cool. I'll hail a cab."

I felt like I was going to throw up. I was confused and I wanted to go home. Now. The most annoying part was that they were all acting so freaking normal. It was like they did this all the time. Which apparently, as I found out later, they did, but that isn't the point.

Percy sighed. "I can't even walk into a school without blowing it up." He kicked at a tuft of grass, the triumph of winning the battle gone from his gaze.

Grover patted him on the shoulder. "It's ok, Percy. Technically, you didn't blow this one up."

Percy shrugged. I noticed that his eyes were this really bright shade of sea green. It was kind of disconcerting.

"Hey, Grover? Um, not to be a bother or anything… but why do you have, um, hooves?" I asked, trying to ease myself into this as delicately as possible. Grover and Percy exchanged a look.

"Let's save that discussion for the cab ride." Grover said. "Percy, you got any cans?"

Percy grinned. "Annabeth and I saved one just for you." He handed Grover a Pepsi can. Grover took it, beamed, and took a huge bite out of it.

Oh…my…god.

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**So? What'd you guys think? I really hope Maggie isn't a Mary Sue, because I tried really hard to make sure she wasn't. Please review. :)  
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**Love**

**Allie  
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	2. Ancient Cultures all over again

**Thank you all for the brilliant reviews! I hope you like chapter two as much as you liked chapter one. The Dyonisus part was a total blast to write. :)**

**Dis: Nope. How depressing is that?  
**

A few moments later, Annabeth had hailed a cab and we were on our way to Camp Half-Blood. The entire way there, Percy, Annabeth and Grover tried to force feed me some nonsense about the Greek gods being real. I kept thinking, No way this is real. Why the hell am I riding in a cab with these freaks? Then I'd look at Grover's feet and feel dizzy again.

Annabeth was wrapping the story up. "So, that's it." She leaned back and looked at me expectantly.

I looked from her, to Percy, to Grover. All three looked calm. Annabeth had told me everything in this flat, kind of bored voice like she had this discussion all the time. I decided to go along with it. I mean, obviously, these people were crazy. As soon as they let me out of this cab, I was so out of there.

"So. If all this is true…who are you two kids of?"

Annabeth looked semi-relieved I had believed so easily. "I am daughter of Athena." She said proudly. "Goddess of wisdom."

"Uh-huh." I looked at Percy.

"Poseidon. God of the sea." He said, also proudly.

I buried my face in my hands. "Oh my god, you're all crazy."

There was a huge whoosh of air, like everyone in the cab had sighed as one.

"Look, Maggie." Percy's voice sounded slightly annoyed now. "Is Grover a figment of your imagination? Look at his feet. Were those Harpies a figment of your imagination?" He grabbed Annabeth's arm and jerked up her sleeve, showing off a long red scratch that she must have gotten during the fight. "Are we crazy now? We're trying to help you. I accepted it. You can too."

Annabeth and Grover stared at him. Annabeth shook her head. "This is why we don't take you with us on these things, Seaweed Brain. You can't just yell at them."

Percy ignored them. "Let me guess." He said. "Diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia?"

I choked on my air. Ever done it? It's pretty weird. "How did you…"

Percy shook his head. "Because you're one of us. Maggie, you're a half-blood."

Surprisingly enough…Percy's speech actually got through to me. Like his head needed to get any bigger.

"What about my dad?" I asked quietly, finally giving up. "He'll want to know what happened to me."

Annabeth stared openmouthed at me. "You mean Seaweed Brain's rant actually _worked_?"

Percy, who suddenly realized he hadn't yet released Annabeth's wrist, did so quickly and smirked, "See Wise Girl, I can do it too!"

Grover ignored them. I got the sense they bickered a lot. "Your dad already knows. How do you think you were born if your dad didn't know?"

I opened and closed my mouth. "So…oh my god." I dropped my head into my hands. How on earth had my dad kept that a secret from me all these years? My dad was a sucky liar. I mean, he couldn't even play poker with me without giving away his hand. How had he kept this a secret my whole life? Was everyone I knew lying to me? I felt the comfortable world I knew slipping away with every passing second.

Annabeth patted me on the shoulder. "It's ok." She said quietly. I peeked up at her from between my fingers. She was fingering the giant college ring on her necklace and looking rather morose. The taxi ground to a halt. Annabeth paid the driver with Percy's money and the four of us spilled out of the car. I found myself at the bottom of a huge hill. Just thinking about climbing up it made my legs hurt. I hate PE.

The others began making their way up the hill and I followed, looking around with interest in spite of just being ripped from my life like an old band-aid. We crested the top of the hill and I gasped in spite of myself.

"Holy frick…" I muttered. It was a summer camp. Literally. There was a garden and a lake and cabins and a bigger house that looked like some sort of colonial farm house. They had brought me to a freaking summer camp. What, were we going to canoe, make macaroni arts and crafts?

"Come on." Percy said, gesturing to us. I blinked. He was already half-way down the hill. "We have to introduce Maggie to Chiron and quick. I'm going to be late for archery with the Apollo cabin. They hate it when I'm late and I swore on the river Styx that I'd be on time today."

Archery with the Apollo cabin. Yeah, of course. That made perfect sense. Apollo, archery…yeah. This was like my ancient cultures class all over again. Oh god, I was totally losing it.

I followed Annabeth and Grover down the hill and up to the door of the farmhouse.

"Percy? Annabeth, Grover? Is that you three?" called a voice. My first impression of Chiron's voice was layered, like a cake. I know that sounds weird, but it was like he'd seen a ton of crap that he'd really rather have not seen and it was the best word I could think of so hush. This is my narrative. Not yours.

"Peter is back?" came another, harsher voice. I blinked. Peter? Who the hell was Peter?

We walked into the front room. This is the point in the story that everything really hit me, because I stood staring at a centaur. Like Firenze in Harry Potter. My mouth dropped and I must have seemed really rude, now that I think about it.

"It's Percy, Mr. D." Percy sounded weary, like he explained this to this particular man a lot.

I directed my attention to the source of the voice and stared at the large man dressed in Hawaiian print lounging on a chair in front of me. I must have stared a little too openly, cause Mr. D glared at me and snapped, "Who are you?"

I jumped violently and the centaur put his hand on my shoulder. "Now, now, Mr. D. Don't scare the poor girl." He smiled kindly at me and I found myself grinning back. Chiron kind of does that to a person.

Mr. D shrugged. "Whatever, it's just another dumb kid I gotta look after." He took a large swig out of his diet Coke.

Chiron sighed. "Come, child. You are Maggie Fairchild, correct?"

Somehow, it didn't seem odd to me at all that this strange creature knew my name. I nodded dumbly. Next to Annabeth, Percy was shifting from foot to foot, glancing anxiously behind him.

"Chiron?" He blurted out. "I'm gonna be late for archery with the Apollo kids and I kind of swore on the river Styx I wouldn't be late."

Chiron raised his eyebrows. "Why so you did, Percy. Go on then."

Percy nodded. "Later, Annabeth. Hey Grover, you coming?"

"Yeah, I want to say hi to Juniper. Bye Annabeth! See you Maggie!" Grover waved at me and trotted after Percy. I still couldn't get over the whole trotting thing. It was creepy to see the guy I thought I knew so well so completely a different person. Suddenly, I realized something.

"Oh my god, you're Chiron! Like, the Chiron!" I stared at him and my mouth dropped for a second time. I felt like I was meeting a celebrity. Now that my common sense had decided to die and my mind had decided to believe the whole Greek gods thing, I was actually kind of getting into the whole thing.

Chiron and Annabeth laughed. "Yes, child."

The Hawaiian guy, Mr. D, scoffed loudly. "Yeah yeah, it's just a horse. Where's my cry of delight?" He put his hand to his cheek in a bad imitation of me. (I mean, really. It was bad. And he's supposed to be the god of theatre?) "Omg, it's Dionysus! Like, the god!" He slumped back into his chair, clearly annoyed.

I started. "Wait…you're a GOD?" This threw me for a loop. In the back of my mind, I had always pictured the gods like from Disney's Hercules. This man in front of me was NOT Disney.

Dionysus rolled his eyes. "Oh please, little girl, that movie is so stupid. Although…Hermes did get the short end of the stick in that particular film." He chuckled. "He was so pissed. It was hilarious."

I gulped. He'd read my mind. Literally.

Chiron turned to Annabeth. "Annabeth, I believe you have nothing to do until dinner. Why don't you show Maggie here around?" Thank the gods.

Annabeth grinned at me. "Sure thing, Chiron. Let's go, Maggie."

**Well? Good? Bad? Kind of meh? Please review!**

**xxAllTheWorldsAStagexx  
**


	3. Like a Frickin Aphrodite Kid

**Hi guys. I'm finally updating. I'm sorry it took me so long. Really, I am. Anyway, please enjoy the third chapter of _Deus ex Machina. _ **

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.  
**

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Chapter Three- Like a Frickin Aphrodite Kid

Together we walked down the porch steps as Chiron turned and went back into the main house. The sun was shining brilliantly and I took a deep breath of clean crisp air.

Annabeth led me down a path and over to the cabins, where she explained about their different affiliations with the different gods. She pointed to a low grey building and said it was Percy's cabin. The gold one was Apollo's and the ugly red one was Ares' and so on and so forth. (Oh, and if anyone asks, I so did not call Ares' cabin ugly. Just…FYI and for my own safety.)

I was completely enthralled by everything around me. My head swiveled this way and that, taking in as much as I could. A couple of dark haired kids crouching over the strawberry plants, a really large group of kids all different looking practicing sword fighting, the sparkling lake…it was a little surreal. Just that morning I had been most concerned about my English final. Now all I wanted to know was who my mother actually was. I was broken out of my daze by Annabeth's voice.

"So that's about it. Camp Half-Blood, at your service."

I shook my head. "Half-blood…"

"Pretty weird, huh?" Annabeth smiled. "You look about as freaked out as Percy did when he first showed up."

I grinned. "Really?"

Annabeth laughed. "Yeah. He practically arrived in a body bag." She glanced around. "I wonder if he made it to archery alright."

I shrugged. "I'm sure he did." I glanced at the pretty girl beside me. "He looked pretty capable from what I saw."

Annabeth frowned. "Oh, he's capable. And annoying and obnoxious and funny and loyal and…"

Ahhhhh… I grinned. So that was it. I could see it now. I decided to test my hypothesis.

"…and cute." I said casually, lacing my fingers behind my head.

Annabeth choked on her air. It's an epidemic that's sweeping the nation. You should get vaccinated. "C-Cute? W-what makes you say that?"

I gave my new friend a sideways glance. "Really, Annabeth? You haven't noticed?"

"I-I…well, I guess I…I mean…"

"He's got nice eyes." I said conversationally. Alright, I'll admit it. I was kind of enjoying toying with Annabeth. She struck me as the kind of girl who liked to be in control, and who didn't get flustered easily. I might never get this chance again. And, as of writing this right now, I haven't. Gotten the chance again, I mean. Sheesh! Writing that makes me feel like a terrible person.

Annabeth swallowed hard. "Well, I guess so…"

I was suddenly struck by the realization that Annabeth didn't know me very well and that she might think I was trying to steal Percy from her. Oh, geez, that wasn't going to fly.

"Don't worry." I said quickly. "He's not my type."

Annabeth visibly relaxed. "Oh no, I wouldn't care if you dated him. I mean, it's Seaweed Brain. I don't like him like that. At all. Nope. Not a bit."

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much." I murmured. My English teacher would be so insanely proud of me if she heard me quote Hamlet. Annabeth told me later that I had misquoted the line, but whatever. I bet you didn't even notice until I said something_._

Annabeth glared at me.

I raised my hands in defense. What? Annabeth's glares are scary, man! "Sorry sorry! That was way out of line. I'm sorry, Annabeth, I'll let it drop! I swear!"

Annabeth scrutinized me for a moment and then smiled. "It's ok. You didn't know we're just friends. Lots of people make that mistake."

I sighed with relief. But seriously though, Annabeth, if you're reading this, for being the daughter of Athena, you are one naive girl. I mean, come ON!

I figured I'd pursue it later. For now, I wanted to look around some more. "So, what cabin will I be staying at, since they don't know who I am?"

Annabeth, obviously relieved I had changed to subject, smiled at me. "You'll be staying in the Hermes cabin with the other undecideds." She pointed at a small plain looking cabin on the end of the row.

"So…there's other kids like me here?"

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah. Some of them have been here so long that they've lost hope that their parent will ever claim them."

I was floored. "You can never get claimed?"

At this point I won't waste your life with all the facts that Annabeth told me. I'm sure, since Percy's little life story is way more famous than mine that you've read his and already know everything that Annabeth told me, so I'll just skip ahead to dinner to avoid your brains melting and turning to mush with boredom.

When I got to the mess hall, most of the other cabins were already there. A few tables were empty and Percy was sitting at a table by himself. I understood all about the table caste system and stuff but still. It was a little sad to see Percy sitting there all by himself. Annabeth waved at me from a table where she sat with what had to be the rest of her cabin. I squeezed onto the end of a bench at the Hermes table and immediately put my elbow into a bowl of oatmeal.

"Oh!" I jerked my elbow free and in so doing, elbowed the owner of the oatmeal, effectively ruining his shirt. "Oh my gods, I'm so sorry!" I took a moment to realize that I had already slipped into saying 'oh my gods' plural before snatching up a napkin and sheepishly handing it to the…hello, extremely cute boy next to me. Holy snapper turtles. He took the napkin from me and flashed a smile.

"It's all good." He had light brown hair that flopped down into his eyes, which were molasses brown. I think my heart stopped. I mean daaaaaaaaaaang.

"I'm Maggie." I said, or at least I think I did. It was either that or I love you. One of the two.

It must have been the first one, because he stuck out his hand and said, "I'm Jason. Nice to meet you."

"Uh-huh…" I sighed breathily and shook his hand. It almost pains me to write this. Honestly? I must have been acting like an idiot. I certainly felt like an idiot. Like a frickin' Aphrodite kid. Stupid Cupid. Heh heh heh…that rhymes…you know, stupid Cu…oh never mind.

I turned back to my food, which I had somehow managed to order. I'm not entirely sure how. What? You've never been in like before? Sheesh… Suddenly, there was a loud clumping at the door as the last cabin arrived. The Ares cabin stood in the doorway. I could almost picture the tattoos, gang jackets and the gun bulges. I mean, yikes. They are one scary bunch of kids. I quickly looked away and back down at my golden plate.

There was the sound of a chair scraping as Dionysus stood up. "Well, now that Ares has deigned to actually join us…" Thunder sounded in the distance and Dionysus glared up at the ceiling before continuing. "Let me be the first to introduce you to our new demigod, blah blah blah, her name's Maggie. Can we eat now?"

I suddenly found myself the center of attention as everyone's heads snapped to stare at the new girl. Yikes. I found Annabeth's eyes and she gave me a comforting smile. Thank you, Annabeth. I looked back down at my plate as the others lost interest in me and began to get up, table by table to sacrifice their meal to the gods by dumping it into the enormous fire in the center of the room. The rest of the Hermes table stood up and I scrambled to follow them. I scraped some of my mashed potatoes (best…food…ever. Don't even TRY to deny it!) into the fire.

_Um…_ I thought, feeling rather dumb for speaking to a fire, _Hi. I'd kind of like to know who my mom is, if it's, um, not too much trouble. Please? Um, Thanks. I hope you like mashed potatoes._ I turned away and moved back to my table as everyone began to eat.

Somehow I made it through dinner with no more oatmeal incidents. After that, I bolted from my table so I wouldn't get caught making a bigger fool out of myself in front of Jason and glued myself to Annabeth's side as we made our way down to the campfire. Like, an actual campfire. I lived in New York City. Not a lot of campfires there. I saw a satyr dart past us and suddenly realized that I hadn't seen Grover all day. Percy jogged up next to us and overheard my next question.

"Where's Grover? I haven't seen him all day."

Percy gave Annabeth a look. "Did you see him at dinner? Cause I didn't."

Annabeth shook her head. "He probably had dinner with Juniper. He was at Maggie's school for months, after all."

I frowned. "Who's…"

"Grover's girlfriend." Percy answered me before I even asked.

"Oh." I looked at the two of them and suddenly felt like a third wheel. Neither of them would tell me to go away, I knew that much about them already. Hm… As we kept walking, I began stepping on my shoelaces with my other foot, effectively untying them. Excellent. I dropped to one knee and began to tie my shoe agonizingly slowly, aligning each and every lace in an OCD like manner. Percy suddenly noticed I was missing and ground to a halt, glancing back over his shoulder at me.

"No, go on, I'll catch up." I called. They shrugged and walked on. I watched as Percy's arm floated up and touched Annabeth's shoulder, gently prodding her in the right direction. She jumped and his arm snapped back, a reddish tinge floating up his cheeks. I could have kicked her.

Oh well. I began to make my way down to the campfire towards the rest of the Hermes cabin. I'd have plenty of time to try to figure out a solution to my new hobby. Sigh…or so I thought.

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**Love it? Hate it? Please review and tell me what you thought, What I can do better, how you absolutely can't wait until The Last Olympian comes out, things like that. :)**

**xxAllTheWorldsAStagexx  
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	4. Oh my gods, the Loch Ness Monster

**Wow, it has been freaking FOREVER since I updated this...I am so sorry! Really I am! I hope you can forgive me! If you're not to terribly furious, please read on and tell me what you think! I hope you enjoy!**

**Dis: As much as I wish it, I do not own PJO.  
**

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**Chapter Four- Oh my gods, the Loch Ness Monster.**

So, have I ever told you how much I HATE campfire songs? No? Let me reiterate. I bloody HATE campfire songs. I sat next to Annabeth through an exhausting round of popular campfire songs that Half-Blood campers had changed the words to. It was pure torture. After that, it was time to go back to the cabins and go to bed. I had been dreading this moment all night. I didn't really know anyone in the Hermes cabin. I stood awkwardly in the doorway, shifting from foot to foot. Finally, someone noticed me.

"Hey, you're the new girl, yeah?" She was a tall girl, with bright blue eyes and dark hair twisted up into a knot at the top of her head. She was smacking a piece of gum between her teeth. "I'm Marie. Daughter of Hermes. Like, for real, not just an undetermined. What's your name?"

"Maggie." I said, watching the girl in front of me warily as she blew "a whole new kind of bubble".

"Pleasure." Marie responded. She leaned backwards and threw me a rolled up sleeping bag. "Sorry, but as this is the last stop drop, we're all out of beds. That corner's free, though."

"Thanks." I said, trying to sound as cheerful as I could at the prospect of sleeping in a corner of a crowded cabin. According to Annabeth, Percy had his cabin all to himself, lucky duck. I made my way over to the corner Marie had pointed out and spread my bag. Suddenly, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and found myself staring into Jason's eyes. I squeaked and fell over backwards. _Smooth._ I thought, taking his outstretched hand.

"You ok?" He asked, his beautiful eyes, like chocolate, dancing mischievously behind his waves of light… um, wow. I got a little carried away there. Sorry 'bout that.

I nodded. "Yeah…"

Jason smiled. "Yeah, there's not a lot of room in this cabin. We take in all the stragglers."

"I know." I shrugged, spreading out my sleeping bag. "I think that's nice. Someone's got to do it. If you didn't…where would I be?"

"Not here." Jason tucked a strand of loose hair behind my ear. "And what a shame that would be." He flashed a smile.

Now, let me interrupt my narrative for a brief paragraph to tell you a little something about myself. I am five foot short, with very plain shoulder brown hair (that hadn't been washed yet today, I might add) and very plain hazel-with-a-splash-of-grey eyes. I have freckles. In other words, I am not tall, blond, and busty (like a certain goddess of love's children I could mention). Therefore, the fact that this scenario was even happening to me at all threw me for a friggin' loop. I had absolutely NO clue what to do whatsoever. Later, when I thought about it, I imagined a few different ways this scene could have turned out. None of them, however, had the added variable of what actually happened next.

So I'm standing there, staring dumbly at Jason like a moron. We had a few more minutes of awkward conversation and then Marie called lights out. I had just curled up in my sleeping bag when I hear this loud thump thump thump from outside. I figured it was nothing, so I rolled over. Yeah, I should have known that nothing around here is ever nothing. Finally, I heard one of the older members of the Hermes cabin groan something about killing someone and roll out of bed, making his way over to the window. He peeped outside and gasped, stumbling back onto a small blond girl curled behind him.

"Holy gods of fricking Olympus!" He cried. I scrambled to my feet and poked my head out the window. Yes, I am fully aware that of my limited options, this was probably the worst. So I'm a little stupid. Whatever. I poked my head out of the window and saw what all the fuss was about. Remember the three Harpies from Chapter One? They were back. Back, and from the look of it, maaaaaaaajorly pissed off. Everywhere I looked, kids were spilling out of their cabins, grabbing swords and bows and other sharp, pointy-looking objects.

I turned back to my cabin to find them doing the same things. "Hey, hey, wait for me. Wait!" I cried, grabbing Marie by the upper arm. She pulled away and snapped her gum.

"Come on then, chickadee. We got some monster butt to kick." She threw a sword at me and ran out the door without even stopping to see if she had skewered me. I mean, literally, threw. I am possibly the least coordinated person I know, and Marie THREW a fricking SWORD at me! I shrieked and ducked. Luckily, a hand reached out and caught the handle of the sword before it shish-ka-bobed me. I looked up into the eyes of Jason.

"Um, thanks." I said, weakly, taking the dangerous, sharp weapon. He flashed me a smile and darted out the door. I gripped my sword and followed him….straight into what looked like an unorganized and overly dangerous and certainly not government-regulated version of tag. People were running all over the place with sharp objects. I mean, honestly. 'Don't run with scissors' had been burned into my brain at an early age. Apparently, these wackos missed that section of the parental handbook. Ah well. When in a deranged camp for children of the apparently very real Greek gods…do as the deranged children of the real Greek gods do. So I ran with my sharp pointy object. And who do I run into? Annabeth Chase. She's really lucky that I didn't skewer her like a shish-ka-bob.

"Hey, Annabeth! I thought you guys killed these things!"

Annabeth looked up at me, a dagger in her teeth. She ripped it out of her mouth and shouted something about never really killing monsters, always come back, just angrier, blah blah blah… I was much more interested in the fact that the Hephaestus kids appeared to have a catapult. Suddenly, a dark-haired kid grabbed my arm.

"Hey, either of you two seen Grover?" Percy shouted in my ear. The screams, the wind… all was making it very difficult to hear. Annabeth wrapped her arm around Percy's shoulders and pulled his head close to hers so she could shout something back. I grinned and took a mental snapshot. Click!

Then I looked above Percy's head. "Wah!" I jabbed my sword wildly and knocked the sword of the Harpy in green away from chopping off Percy's head. She spotted me and got this super pissed off look on her face. I gulped.

Percy and Annabeth spun and stood in front of me, weapons drawn. "Don't even think about it." Annabeth snarled.

Suddenly a hand gripped my upper arm. "Maggie! Come on!" It was Grover.

"Hey!" I shouted, insanely glad to see him. "Percy was looking for you."

Grover pointed to where Percy and Riptide were slightly occupied. "I think he's busy."

"It looks that way, yes." I turned back to Grover. "How are we gonna stop these things? And where the heck is Mr. D? Isn't he a god? Can't he stop them?"

Grover shrugged. "I don't know!" He shouted. "We've gotta stop them somehow, though! I don't know if you've seen, but it's not just the Harpies."

No. I hadn't seen. What else was there to deal with? "What? What else is there?" I cried.

Grover simply pointed. There was something in the water. I gulped. "Oh my gods, it's the Loch Ness Monster."

"The what?" Grover looked. "Oh, yeah. No, that's just an army of sea serpents."

"Oh." I felt faint. "Right."

"Maggie!" I whipped around to find Marie had a cut on her upper arm. "Hey, chickadee, you better run and run fast! Those serpents are shooting stuff this way!"

She darted past to cover a tall, blond son of Apollo. I watched her go, feeling slightly cheated. I mean, what kind of a warning was that? Still, it was a warning, and I decided to follow this particular warning. I grabbed Grover's hand and we took off running towards the Big House. Well, I ran. Grover galloped.

I skidded to a halt to avoid a group of Aphrodite kids who were attempting to charm the Harpie in blue to not kill them. Yeah. That was gonna work. I turned back to the sea to see the Hephaestus kids with a real honest-to-the-gods cannon. One of them, a tall, muscled fellow lit the fuse and the kids plugged their ears. There was a huge boom! and the cannon went off, spitting a cannonball roughly the size of my friggin' house at the serpents. One serpent went down, the victim of the gimundo cannonball. But there were still four left.

I surveyed the rest of the battle. Most of the campers were at the beach, helping the Hephaestus kids with the cannon. It seemed to be working too. There were three distinct groups left fighting the Harpies. The Harpie in blue was busy with the aforementioned Aphrodite kids, who appeared to have been joined by a mix of Apollo kids and Marie. The Harpie in green was surrounded by what looked like the whole of the Ares cabin. The Harpie in red had her hands full with Percy and Annabeth.

I squinted. Something was wrong, though. They weren't dying. As I watched, Percy stepped forward and casually ran the Harpie through the stomach with Anaklusmos. The Harpie paused, yanked the sword from her stomach and shoved Percy to the ground. I frowned. Maybe it was all those years of Biology, but something told me that if you got stabbed through the stomach, you weren't supposed to live.

I tapped Grover on the shoulder. "Why aren't they dying?"

He shrugged. "I don't know!" He shouted back, clearly slightly panicked.

I turned back to the battle and gulped. Oh, dearie me. This couldn't end up well.

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**THE LAST OLYMPIAN COMES OUT MAY FIFTH! Sorry, had to get that off my chest. Can you tell I'm excited? ;) Anyhoo, please review and tell me what you thought of it! **

**xxAlltheWorldsAStagexx  
**


	5. Emo Poetry: Being Claimed ain't all it's

**Greetings friends! Here's the next chapter! (Which happens to be dedicated to iknowiknow5279 for her birthday) :) Hope you all enjoy it!**

**Dis: You know the drill.**

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**Chapter Five- Emo poetry: Being claimed ain't all it's cracked up to be.**

This couldn't end up well. Not at all. How were we, a bunch of half-blood heroes in training, supposed to defeat a group of immortal Harpies? I clutched my dagger and watched the battle rage. I was about to lose it. Seriously. Kids were getting slashed and hacked all over the place, and we didn't appear to be doing any damage to the opposing forces. I mean, I'm fifteen! I shouldn't be looking at all this bloodshed. _Come on, Maggie. Focus. You're supposed to be good at this kind of thing. Remember all those P.E. classes? Those games of Risk with Dad?_ I chewed on my lower lip. If we couldn't kill them… maybe we could trap them. At least until we figured out how to knock off the suckers. Enlivened with my new idea, I spun on Grover.

"Grover! We're gonna need…" I thought for a moment. "Do we have anything that we could use to catch them? Like a net or something?"

"A net?" Grover looked puzzled. "Um, I think we have one on loan from Artemis up in the attic. But why do you need…"

I grabbed the satyr by the scruff of the neck. "Take me to the attic!"

Grover jumped, startled by my sudden fierceness and, grabbing my hand, half ran half loped (or whatever it is that satyrs do) towards the porch of the Big House and, I assumed, the attic that may just save us. We darted up the stairs, past a quivering forest nymph who appeared to have been trapped in the living room until we halted at a plain looking door. Grover nervously shoved it open with his hoof.

"We're not supposed to disturb the oracle…" He mumbled as I shot past him into the attic. Whoa. There was a ton of stuff up here. I mean, if Camp Half-Blood ever dropped low on cash, they could have an interspecies yard sale and make a ton of Drachmas. I mean… there was everything from the "live action Hercules action figure with real punching action" to the pomegranate that Persephone actually ate the seeds from all those years ago. (How it wasn't rotted and gross, I haven't a clue.) It was like everything that the gods wanted to keep, but didn't want lying around Mount Olympus ended up in the Big House attic. Kind of like our basement at home. But I digress. I wasn't up here to play with the Mount Olympus dollhouse. I needed that net.

I began digging through piece of junk after piece of junk. After a bleat of hesitation, Grover began helping, poking through a few items near the door. I discarded a few decks of cards and turned a corner around a pile of junk and stopped dead. There was a mummy staring at me. I took a deep breath, ready to scream my bloody guts out when the head of the mummy suddenly _moved_. I proceeded to, very calmly, of course, scramble backwards and trip over a Mr. D. bobble head. Then the mummy began to talk to me. Sure. Why wouldn't a thousand year old mummy talk to frightened teenage girls in dusty attics? Geez, was I finally losing it? Either that, or there was something in all this dust that I was breathing.

_Beware, child, your time grows near._

_A time to help, a time to fear, _

_This quest, though yours, is not yours alone, _

_Though in the end, you the only one, _

_Five you take, a group pure and strong, _

_But one much deeper into the wrong, _

_Forget not who you are and then, _

_You'll be alright in the end,_

What? I was so confused. I felt like I was at an Emo kid poetry reading. The odd thing was, I had just been spoken to, in rhyme, by a long dead mummy, and the only thing I could think about was the stanzas of that poem had been quatrains. Well, that's what school and remedial English'll do to you. Grover came barreling over to me, his footsteps suddenly really loud in the cramped attic.

"Maggie, Maggie, I found it!" He suddenly stopped and looked at my face, which I'm sure was pale as all get out, and then at the mummy warily. "Maggie, did the oracle speak to you?"

"Oracle? Um… yeah." Ohhhh, m'kay, now it made sense. The rhyme was a prophecy… oh gods above. I was in for a dangerous quest, wasn't I? Of course. Why on earth shouldn't I have an easy time with this? Let's send the brand new half-blood on a dangerous quest. I shook the thoughts from my head, taking notice of the golden sheaf of fabric that Grover held in his hands.

"Whatever. Come on, Grover, we need to help the camp." I shook out the net and grinned. Oh yes. This would be perfect.

I ran back outside and grabbed the first Apollo kid I saw. "Hey, you!" The blond boy looked startled.

"Whaddya want?" He asked, fitting another arrow onto his bow and shooting it without even looking.

I showed him the net and explained my plan. His eyes got big and he grinned and nodded. He called a few other Apollo kids over and they began to set up a perimeter. The plan swept through the rest of the campers and they began fleeing the area. Percy and Annabeth helped Marie and a big Ares girl drive the Harpies into a tight little circle.

"Wait… wait…" The Apollo kids had taken the net and attached its ends to some of their arrows. "Wait…" I muttered, holding out my hand, waiting for just the right moment to cue Percy, Annabeth, Marie, and the Ares girl's retreat from the area we were going to trap the Harpies in. "NOW!"

The four half-bloods bolted and the net shot over the Harpies. Woo! Go Apollo! "Stake it down!" I ordered, and the Aphrodite and Ares cabins drove the net into the ground with whatever they're been able to find. I saw one kid stake it to the ground with a hairbrush.

The Harpies thrashed and fought, but were subdued by the power of the net that had once held the gods. I felt a disbelieving grin spread over my face. No way had that actually worked. I chanced a glance at the beach and saw that while we'd been busy, the Hephaestus cabin had taken care of the sea serpents. Had we… won? Seriously?

"Maggie!" I turned to see Annabeth and Percy racing towards me. Both were sliced in various places and Annabeth's hair was mussed. Percy's sword shrunk back down into a pen (I still couldn't get over how it did that) as Annabeth skidded to a halt in front of me. "That was awesome! Where did you think of the net like that?"

"I…I dunno…" I was a little thrown by all the attention. I hate getting stared at. I've got major stage fright. I can't even give reports in front of the class without feeling all sweaty and gross. And a whole heck-of-a-lot of people were staring at me now. Actually… not me. The air above my head. What, was my hair sticking up? I looked up above me and my eyes got huge. There was a glowing golden circle above my head—incased in the circle was a book and a sword.

"Holy crap." I muttered, resisting the urge to swipe my hand through it.

"You've been claimed!" Annabeth whispered excitedly to me.

The whole camp went down on one knee. I swallowed. Oh my gods.

"Who've I been claimed by?" I whispered back to Annabeth.

Percy pointed up at the symbol above my head. "All hail, Maggie." He announced formally, making me shiver a little.

Annabeth smiled at me warmly. "Daughter of wisdom, strategy, and victory. Hail, Maggie, daughter of the goddess Athena."

******

Things after that were… rushed. Annabeth sent Chiron an Iris-message (which I thought was just about the coolest thing I'd ever seen in my life, but anyway) and he and Dionysus reappeared on the scene just in time to help me move. I mean, I'd just gotten to this camp, and all the worldly possessions I had here (which wasn't much, admittedly) went to the Athena cabin. I now had a ton of new half-brothers and sisters, of which I'm proud to say that Annabeth was one. I was an only child, so having brothers and sisters was new to me, even if they were only half. Annabeth, who was my cabin leader, being the important little half-blood she was, set me up with a bed below a girl with flashing pale blue eyes who introduced herself as Lilith. I was sitting on my bed, glad for the chance to take a breather.

Chiron and Dionysus had moved the Harpies—to where, none of us were quite sure. None of us really cared, to be honest. I was sitting, like I said, on the bed, trying to count just how many times I'd escaped death in the last few hours (never thought I'd ever be doing that, actually, but hey. First time for everything) when there came a knock knock on the… on my cabin door. Annabeth opened the door to find Grover standing there, looking nervous.

"Hey there, Annabeth. Mr. D sent me here to get Maggie. Chiron wants to hear about her prophecy." I turned pale. Crap. The talking mummy oracle with the emo poetry. I'd forgotten all about it.

The cabin fell silent and Annabeth turned to me. "You got a prophecy? When on earth did you find time to chat up the oracle?"

I gave her a pathetic look that clearly said help me I have no idea what to do. Or at least, that's what I hope it said. It may have just looked like I had to pee. Either way, Grover spoke up.

"You'd better come too, Annabeth. As her cabin leader."

"True." Annabeth motioned me forward. "Come on then, Maggie. Let's go see what Chiron wants."

I followed Annabeth and Grover out the cabin and down the path towards the Big House. Now what had I gotten myself into?

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**Well? I hope you guys liked it! Please review and share your thoughts!!!**

**xxAlltheWorldsAStagexx  
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	6. CHRONOS, KRONOS, and a QUE

**Hey, everyone, I'm back and better than ever! And I have a new chapter! And I know exactly where I want to take this story, so hopefully, that will make the updates come a little quicker. I hope you guys like the latest chapter as things begin to pickup. :D**

**Dis: I wish I owned PJO... but alas...  
**

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**Chapter Six: C-H-R-O-N-O-S, K-R-O-N-O-S, and a Q-U-E-S-T.**

I stared down the large finger that had decided to wage war with my nose. "You, girl. What did you do?"

I followed the finger up a long, if somewhat hairy arm to its source at the face of Mr. D. It was times like theses when it was awful hard to remember he was a god that wasn't too fond of us halfbloods. Yeah right. I was so scared, I thought I was gonna pee my pants. Worst of all, as soon as we'd gotten to the Big House, Chiron had motioned Annabeth over, whispered something in her ear and Annabeth had LEFT ME ALONE! You can be absolutely sure she was going to hear about this later. That is, of course, if I managed to survive my latest Mr. D encounter.

"I didn't do anything!" I managed to squeak. At least Chiron was there. He wouldn't let Mr. D barbeque me. While I held onto this golden hope, I was frantically trying to think. What was it that I had done? I hadn't had time to do much… Maybe that golden net was special or something. Maybe I wasn't supposed to use it. Maybe Mr. D hated my face. Who knew?

Mr. D glared at me. "How did that creature get into the camp? Yeesh, I'm gone for five minutes…" He waved his hand irritably and a wine goblet appeared in midair. I watched, astonished as wine appeared in the goblet. Mr. D swished his hand to take a swig, but before he could bring the goblet to his lips, the liquid inside vanished. He swore loudly in ancient Greek and materialized a Diet Coke.

While Mr. D chugged down his diet virgin Cuba Libre, Chiron had moved next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Maggie. I want you to tell me in your own words exactly what happened." I let the words babble out of my mouth as quickly as I could, letting my eyes slide over to Mr. D every now and again to make sure he wasn't getting ready to change me into a dolphin. (What? So I actually paid attention when we studied Greek myths in Ancient Cultures. Sue me.) Chiron was particularly interested in my prophecy, making me repeat it twice. When I was finally done, he frowned and stroked his chin hair. Yes, his chin hair. Ew.

I stood, feeling super awkward while Chiron thought. Suddenly, there was a noise behind me and the door to the Big House opened. Annabeth entered the room, Percy close behind her. After him came Marie, snapping her bubblegum as she looked around interestedly. Then came Jason, my heart-melting Son of Hermes himself. (Oh… wow. Did I seriously write that? Oh, yeah, that's pathetic.)

"We're here, Chiron." Annabeth said breathlessly.

Chiron motioned at them to sit. I followed suit, sitting on Annabeth's other side. "Alright." Chiron said, standing and pacing the room. "This prophecy could not have come at a more… interesting time." He raised his eyes and met mine from across the room. "I have a quest for you five."

There was silence. I looked around at my newfound friends. Quest? What did he mean, quest? Percy and Annabeth looked pained and serious, no doubt living through past memories of past quests or something else equally deep. Jason looked excited, light dancing behind his chocolate eyes, which perfectly offset his tanned skin that… Whoa, ok, Maggie, chill out there. Marie looked nervous; the snapping of her gum had increased frequency.

Chiron continued. "I was originally going to just send Jason, Marie, and Annabeth…" Percy shifted suddenly in his seat at that remark. I remembered his history that Annabeth had told me and wondered suddenly if he'd ever been on a quest without Annabeth, and vice versa. "…But at the last moment decided to allow Percy to go also. Now with this prophecy, it appears the gods wish us to let Maggie go as well."

Annabeth spoke up, voicing the question in all of our minds. "Sir, what are we supposed to do?"

Chiron looked out the window up at the darkening sky. "Kronos is on the move." He said, watching the clouds gather. "We recently received word that he's planning to stop construction on the Empire State Building."

"But, Chiron." Annabeth protested, looking as confused as I felt. "The Empire State Building has already been built. How can he stop construction on something that's already built?"

Chiron turned. "He's manipulating time and attempting to send on of his servants back to 1930 to stop construction on the building. We need to stop him, as the Empire State Building is rather important."

"Manipulating time?" Marie repeated, stunned. Her mouth hung open and we could see the pink smudge of gum resting against her teeth.

Percy spoke up. "But even though Olympus is situated in the Empire State Building right now, wouldn't they just move to a different building if that one didn't exist?"

Chiron nodded, resting back on his haunches, but it was Mr. D. who spoke up. "It doesn't matter where Olympus is, kid." He said from where he was reclining on an easy chair. "It's the fact of the matter. Olympus was in the Empire State while you, Annabeth, and the satyr went on your little adventures earlier. Events in history are going to get turned around if that building doesn't exist, running the possibility that some of the events you little maggots already accomplished may vanish. You brought Zeus' lightning bolt back to the Empire State… What if it were a completely different building in a completely different town? You may get there too late, and the war would have started."

Now this scared the heck out of me, not only because I just learned that the ancient Greek gods were bunking up in the Empire State Building, but because Mr. D was still in the room. I had completely forgotten he was there.

Chiron was nodding. "Mr. D is exactly right, Percy. The five of you must go back in time to stop Kronos from halting construction on the Empire State."

Jason leaned forward. "How exactly are we going to do that?"

Chiron glanced up at the sky out the window again. "Apollo and Artemis have agreed to assist us in the matter."

I followed Chiron's gaze to the sky. The god and goddess of the sun and the moon? But…

"What about the god of time?" I asked. I remembered reading something about him in my Ancient Cultures class.

Chiron looked pained. "We believe Chronos has already fallen into Kronos' hands. That's how he plans to send his servant back."

I snorted. "Chronos into Kronos' hands? Are they the same person?"

"Not at all, you foolish child." Mr. D snapped. I shrunk back into my chair. "Chronos, C-H-R-O-N-O-S, is also known as the Father of Time. K-R-O-N-O-S, Kronos is the Father of Zeus and the others."

"How do you capture of god?" I asked skeptically. I mean… they were gods! Aren't they supposed to be almighty?

Chiron smiled gently. "Remember the golden net used to ensnare Zeus at the hands of his siblings? Remember during the attack on the gods by the Giant brothers, they managed to trap Ares in a jar? It is not impossible to ensnare a god, child."

I sat back in my chair, satisfied. So the Greek gods weren't as powerful as they wanted people to believe.

Mr. D glared at me. "Hey, we can still blast you where you stand, Margret. Don't forget that."

I swallowed. Geez, I hated my full name.

Chiron rose. "Go, then, my children. Pack up what you will need and wait for me at the camp boundary. I'll get you a taxi."

Percy and Annabeth visibly paled at the mention of a taxi, (why, I wonder? It's just a taxi) but rose and left the room all the same, Jason and Marie close behind them. I paused for a moment, something tickling the back of my mind.

"Hey, Chiron, so what does my prophecy mean?"

Chiron smiled. "No one ever knows, Maggie, until it actually plays out. Do not forget the many heroes who have attempted to avoid their fates, only to have them play out in unexpected ways." He put his hand on my head. He was pretty tale for a Centaur and I was, well, short. "Now go and pack."

I nodded and turned to go. As I was leaving, I heard Mr. D speak up. "They're all going to die."

I swallowed and took off running down the path towards the Athena cabin.

About ten minutes and some hurried goodbyes later, I was standing on top of the huge hill that we had come up on our way into the camp. I had a knapsack slung over my shoulder stuffed with food, golden Drachmas (which were just about the coolest things I'd ever seen in my life) and some nectar and ambrosia. Annabeth had similar things in hers, although I had noticed her sticking that Yankees cap into her back pocket. I was confused, until I remembered when she and Percy had saved me and Grover from the Harpies at school. Invisibility. What a handy power.

Thinking of Grover made me think back to the conversation I had had with him before we left.

_"Why aren't you coming with us, Grover?" I asked, throwing the golden Drachmas into my bag. He shrugged mournfully._

_"Juniper doesn't want me to go when I've just been away for so long." He said, tracing a pattern on my bedspread with his finger._

_I bent down and gave him a hug. "It's ok, Grover. We'll be alright."_

_He hugged me back. "You guys had better be."_

_"We will. Go say goodbye to Percy. He's packing all by himself in the Poseidon cabin."_

I shifted to glance at Percy, who was flipping his magic pen sword thingy in his fingers over and over and over again. Finally he stuck it in his pocket and caught me watching. He grinned confidently.

"Hey, Maggie, calm down. We'll be fine." I must have had a panic-stricken look on my pale face, because I certainly felt pale and panic-stricken.

Annabeth also turned to me. "Yeah, don't worry. We've been on tons of quests before."

I nodded. "I think I'd feel a little better if I had some sort of weapon to fight with." I felt very empty–handed and useless.

They smiled, as if to say Oh look, isn't Maggie cute, she wants a weapon. I frowned and looked back down at the ground beneath my feet. It wasn't that ridiculous a request.

Suddenly behind us came the tromping of feet. Marie, Jason, and Chiron appeared over the crest of the hill, the former two clutching knapsacks of their own. Chiron walked straight to me. "Here, Maggie." He handed me something wrapped in cloth. "It's a gift from your mother."

I glanced at Annabeth, who suddenly craned her neck to see what it was. I unrolled the cloth to find a sheathed dagger, bronze, I was assuming. I pulled it a little ways out from the sheath, wide-eyed.

Chiron smiled. "That will go through any customs on any airport in the world, and won't set off any metal detectors."

I grinned and glanced up at the sky. "Thank, Mom." I whispered.

Annabeth grinned at me. "Now we match." She drew her own bronze dagger to show me, although I couldn't help noticing that mine looked newer. Annabeth had gotten some use out of hers for sure. I guess I'd just have to make my mom proud and use mine too.

I slipped my dagger into my belt loop, feeling very warrior-like.

"Alright." Chiron said. He pointed down to a very ordinary looking yellow taxi that was idling at the bottom of the hill.

Percy let out a sigh of relief, and Annabeth snorted. He glared at her. Maybe he was afraid of taxis. I wonder what that phobia name would be… taxiphobia? Probably not.

"Good luck. Stay together, try not to destroy anything, and be careful." Chiron smiled at us. "I have faith in you kids. May the gods smile on you."

We all nodded solemnly and started off down the hill. I turned back once, only once, to watch Chiron watching us. He raised his hand to me and I waved back. Then I hurried down to meet the rest of my little questing group. Haha, questing group. Geez, it reminded me of an MMORPG. I skidded to a halt beside Marie at the base of the hill and was suddenly struck by a much more important thought then MMORPGs.

How on earth were all five of us going to fit in this dinky little cab?

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**Well? What did you think? Please please please review! Reviews make me want to update quicker... hint hint hint. :D**

**XOXO**

**Allie  
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	7. Twins and Time Travel: Sounds Like the F

**Hello everyone-- I apologize profusely for the long wait. My computer caught a virus and I lost everything. Seriously. All of it. And while I know that's not an excuse, I do hope you'll forgive me. Here's chapter seven.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson.  
**

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**Chapter Seven: Twins and Time Travel- Sounds Like The First Line of a Crappy Haiku  
**

Wow, I hate taxi cabs. I mean, before this trip I really had no problem with them. I live in New York City, ok? Taxis are a part of life. But try riding in a too small taxi with four other nervous demigods who all happen to be packing extremely pointy swords and knives, and then tell me what you think of taxis. I think I finally understand Percy's phobia.

Anyway, I have absolutely no desire to relive that ride, so let's skip ahead to the Empire State Building. Annabeth paid the cab driver with a golden drachma (I personally didn't think he deserved it, what with the way he drove, but whatever) and we stood in a line looking up at the building we were supposed to be saving. It was… really really tall. To say the least.

I frowned. "So, how have the gods of Olympus stayed hidden in this place? I mean… hundreds of people walk around it every day."

Percy pointed up at the tip of the building. "They're gods, Maggie. They hid Olympus on the 600th floor."

I snorted. "The 600th floor?"

Everyone else looked serious. I felt myself flush and looked down at the ground. Well, I guess there really is a 600th floor. News to me.

"Come on." Annabeth led us confidently into the building and towards the elevators. She clearly knew where she was going. I dropped back to walk next to Marie. "Have you ever been to Olympus before?" I whispered.

She shook her head, looking faintly nervous. "I've met Hermes, my dad before, and Mr. D, obviously, but I've never actually been to Olympus."

Jason overheard us. "I have, but only once." He muttered out the side of his mouth. "But I heard Percy and Annabeth have met the entire god council."

I glanced ahead to where Percy and Annabeth were walking. Marie nodded. "They've done some crazy stuff together." She snapped her gum. "Been all over the country… They even traversed the Sea of Monsters."

My eyebrows shot up. "Wow, so they're pretty important as far as demigods go?"

Jason's eyes were narrow. "You have no idea." He said. I frowned at his tone of voice, but was tugged from my musings by the elevator doors sliding open. The five of us trooped into the elevator, earning odd looks from the guy that pushes the buttons for you in fancy hotels and stuff (I forget what they're called.)

"The 600th floor, please." Annabeth said confidently.

The man snorted. "Ok, kids, you gotta get off. There is no…" He suddenly froze and his expression changed. "You gotta drachma for me?"

Annabeth sighed and handed him a golden drachma. He grinned and pocketed it. "Thank ya." He smacked a button and the elevator lights dimmed. It rattled and suddenly shot up the shaft. I was almost knocked backwards and had to grab onto Marie and Percy so I didn't fall. They held me up as the elevator rose. Finally, when it seemed like it would never stop, it did and the doors opened and we spilled out.

Great. Now I don't just hate taxi cabs, but elevators as well. My thoughts were suddenly halted as I took in the sights around me. I was in Olympus. And let me tell you, words cannot describe it. I don't know what Percy wrote in his little journal thingy, if he tried to describe Olympus to you, but I'm not even going to try. It was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life. Think of how a little kid feels when he first runs into a Chuck E. Cheese, and you've got how I felt at this moment in time. Almost.

Needless to say, Marie and I just stood and looked for a little bit until Percy cleared his throat. "Uh, guys?" He motioned us forward toward the shimmering palace in the center of the lush garden. (Ok, so I'm gonna try to describe it a little bit.) Tree nymphs danced and laughed, draping Marie and I with these flower lei chain thingys. Seriously, I could have stayed up here forever. But, no. We eventually broke through a group of tittering water nymphs and walked up the steps into the palace of the gods. I felt my palms begin to sweat. Attractive. Just what I needed in the presence of immortal gods. Sweaty palms.

As we stepped through the arches into the main god sanctuary thing, the sky seemed to darken slightly and a girl turned from where she was standing, alone, near a ring of ornate thrones at the outer edge of the room. She was incredibly beautiful, with shimmering silver eyes. She also appeared to be about twelve. The rest of the group stopped and inclined their heads.

"Lady Artemis." Annabeth said reverently.

Artemis? Whoa, this little girl was the goddess of the hunt and the nighttime? Gee, I really had to learn to stop judging things by appearances. Artemis glanced over each one of us, smiling at Annabeth, me, and Marie, frowning at Jason, and nodding respectfully to Percy. Something about Artemis hating all men ran through my mind and I wondered what Percy had done to get on her good side. Hmm… Gender change?

She stepped forward, her bow slung carelessly over her dark blue tunic, which was laced tightly, showing off her much-too-shapely-for-a-twelve-year-old body. Dang, if I had even half of her body… "Greetings, demigods. I hear you need help traversing through time."

Percy glanced at Annabeth, and she nodded, taking charge. "Yes, Lady. Um, is Lord Apollo…?"

Artemis snorted, some of her official-ness dropping away. "Oh, he sent an Iris message to say he'd be running a little late due to 'emergency reasons'. Probably just off polishing his chariot." Suddenly, the room flared with a blinding flash of light, my vision vanished completely, and a voice sounded from behind me, making me jump practically through the Olympians' shimmering roof.

"Hey! I was not polishing my chariot, little sister. I was working on a new haiku."

After the spots had cleared from my vision (which took some time), I found myself looking at a teenage boy, about seventeen or eighteen. His hair shone golden and his mouth was shaped in a permanent half grin. It made him look like he was constantly laughing. Oh, and did I mention he was GORGEOUS? But seriously, don't tell him I wrote that—Apollo so does not need an ego boost. Anyway, so, Apollo was standing there. He grinned at Artemis, who simply looked annoyed and then bounced over to where we were standing in a clump.

"Percy, my man!" Apollo grinned.

"_It's been way too long,_

_Since we've had a heart to heart,_

_Dude, what's up with that?"_

I raised an eyebrow. Ok, now I know I'm not exactly the world's greatest poet or anything, but even I could tell that that was a pretty bad haiku. At that moment, the entire country of Japan probably shuddered or cringed or something. At the very least, a dark cloud passed over the country.

"Hey, there, Lord Apollo." Percy said. "Still hung up on haiku?"

Apollo opened his mouth, presumably to utter another horrific rendition of a haiku, when Artemis' hand found its way over his mouth. "If I must remind you, brother, we are twins. Therefore, I am not your 'little sister'."

Apollo pried her hand off. "Well, technically, you are shorter than me."

Artemis shot him a smoldering glare before turning back to us. "My brother and I will combine our powers of the day and the night and move you backwards in time to the year 1930. Brother, loan them your chariot."

"Whaaa?" Apollo looked panicked. "No way, there, little sis. My baby's my pride and joy!" He spun on us. "Are any of you even sixteen?"

Percy looked down at the ground, scuffing at the ground with the toe of his sneaker. Annabeth glanced behind her where Jason and Marie were looking at each other. "We are." They chorused. Jason looked rather excited, Marie looked nervous.

"Great. Do either of you have your licenses?"

There was silence. Apparently not.

"Do any of you have anything resembling permission to drive a car?"

I slowly raised my hand. "I, um, have my permit?" It sounded like a question and suddenly, all attention was on me. Uh, Spaghetti-O.

Apollo looked pained. "None of you have anything but a permit? Seriously?"

Artemis jabbed him with her elbow. "Give Margret the keys."

I winced and Apollo pulled a key ring out of his pocket like it was made of spun gold. It probably was. "Here." He said dramatically, tossing the keys up in the air. There was a panicked moment while everyone in the area reached up to catch them. They ended up in Jason's hands and he gave them to me with a slight grin. My heart stopped and I turned back to Apollo to avoid babbling incoherently. The keys glowed dully, radiating heat.

"_Be careful with her,_

_My baby is delicate,_

_Please don't scratch her._"

Artemis snorted. "The last line was only four syllables."

Apollo clasped a hand over his heart. "Can you blame me? I'm distressed! My baby, in the hands of a fifteen year old. The last time I let a demigod drive was that daughter of Zeus. It was horrendous!"

I was a little offended. "Hey, I'm not a horrible driver! America just hasn't seen fit to bestow me with a license yet."

Apollo and Artemis looked at me and I shrunk backwards behind Annabeth. She seemed to have had about enough of this discussion. I suppose she was right… I mean, we were trying to save the home of the gods. Kind of a big deal. "Um, Lady Artemis, Lord Apollo, is it possible if we could perhaps go now? We're on a bit of a tight schedule."

Apollo cracked his knuckles. "Alright, alright, hold your baseball hat on, there, beautiful." He snapped his fingers and a blinding silver sports car shimmered into view behind him. He glanced at it. "See, sis? Silver. In remembrance of you."

Artemis smiled briefly. "You still can't flirt with my huntresses, but thank you."

Apollo looked injured and motioned for us to get into the car. We did, with Jason and Marie, whose gum had been surprisingly quiet this whole time (she later told me she'd accidentally swallowed it when Apollo appeared) and Percy in the backseat with Annabeth joining me up front. I slid behind the wheel and tried desperately to remember what I'd learned in driver's Ed. As long as we didn't have to parallel park, I should be ok. Hopefully. I didn't want to picture my charred and broken body if I destroyed Apollo's car. He'd probably read haiku at my funeral, and I don't know if I could handle that, dead or not.

I slipped the key into the ignition and the car roared to life. Artemis and Apollo stepped forward and placed their hands on the hood of the car.

"Once we send you guys back," Artemis called. "You'll be able to use the car to travel back and forth as you please. But be warned—Time travel is volatile, and should only be undertaken in the direst of circumstances. I don't think I need to warn you about what will happen if you mess with the time stream—"

"Blah blah blah." Apollo stretched his arms above his head and replaced his hands. "They're not stupid, sis. They know not to mess with stuff."

Artemis glared at him and then turned to me. "Make sure you get off on the right exit, Margret. Good luck."

Have you ever been lectured by a beautiful twelve year old? Man, is it disconcerting. I swallowed hard and gripped the steering wheel tightly, trying to picture what an exit in the time stream continuum might look like. "So." I hissed at Annabeth. "Ever time traveled before?"

"Nope."

"Great."

Artemis and Apollo closed their eyes and I felt the car get warmer. Then it got hot. Then, it got uncomfortably hot. I fiddled with the air conditioner, but it didn't seem to be working. Awesome. I'm in the chariot of the god of the daytime without any air conditioning.

Suddenly, with absolutely no warning whatsoever at all, the chariot snapped forward and my head slammed into the cushy headrest. There was a cry from the other members of the vehicle and Olympus vanished. Holy snap, we were doing it. We were seriously going back in time.

…Now was so not the time to need to pee.

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**Excited for the movie, anyone? Thanks for reading.  
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**Love, **

**Allie  
**


	8. Virginia's a State, Right?

**Hello all! Here's chapter eight... I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who's favorited, and especially to everyone who's reviewed. You guys make my world go round. :) Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy.  
**

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**Chapter Eight- Virginia's a State… Right?**

I want all of you reading this, assuming you're above the legal driving age in your respective country, to think back to Driver's Education courses. Yes, I know those were some of the most boring and pointless wastes of time that you've ever been to, but just bear with me. Remember the first time you were behind the wheel, and how terrified you were? Remember the lurch the car first made when you hit the pedal too hard because you didn't know how hard to press it? Remember the first time you were taken on the highway and had to learn not only to overtake cars but to get on and off the exit ramps? Yeah, try doing all of this illegally in the middle of the time stream continuum, in an extremely expensive and immortal sports car chariot thing with four other demigods, none of whom know what time stream exit ramps look like, then get back to me.

I was gripping the wheel in my slick and sweaty hands (this was so going to ruin the leather covering) trying desperately to find any sort of sign that we were getting close. We didn't feel like we were moving, and yet we could also feel the car moving at speeds faster than light, probably. I was pretty sure that went against some sort of physics concept but what did I know? I'd taken Biology last year. It was hard to believe that only a day ago, the biggest thing I'd had to worry about was my English final. Off hand, I wondered how I'd done on it.

"So what is this exit supposed to look like?" I shouted in an attempt to bring my ADHD mind back to the situation at hand. Seriously. Only a demigod could get distracted while driving the chariot of Apollo.

Annabeth was gripping the sides of the car, white-knuckled as she frantically looked around. We were surrounded by flashes of colors and snatches of famous quotes. It was a lot what I thought the mind of a history teacher on some sort of illegal drug in the sixties must look like.

Percy leaned forward between us. "Look for the Empire State Building!"

Jason looked sick. Marie had her head down between her knees, her blonde hair fluttering behind her in the breeze that was there, but at the same time, not. It was very freaky.

I returned my eyes to the road, or the lack of a road, and watched history pass in no particular order. We only wanted to go back to March, 1930… That wasn't too far back in history, but when WWII shot past at the same time of the building of the Great Pyramids, I panicked slightly at the thought of passing our exit. It was then that it happened.

In the backseat, Marie's motion sickness got the best of her and she flung herself towards the door and knocking Jason out of the way, proceeded to throw up somewhere in the midst of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I only had a moment to register my recognition of the scene and swear loudly (we had definitely gone way too far) before Jason's elbow smacked Annabeth in the back of the head. The force knocked her into me, and my foot slammed down on the petrol pedal, throwing everybody back into their seats. Annabeth reached out to grab something to steady herself with. Unfortunately, the item she grabbed was the steering wheel. She pushed herself up, which tugged the wheel to the right and turned the car.

There was a brief moment of weightlessness and dead silence as we broke through the time stream. Then we were through and the car was flying through the air. All I registered was a whole heck of a lotta green before there was a loud crack and we fell through the branches of several trees. The car landed heavily with a boom on the floor of the forest and the windshield shattered, flinging dangerous bits of glass everywhere. Then… all was silent. After a moment, I opened my eyes tentatively… and screamed like a teenage girl at a Justin Bieber concert.

The squirrel that had startled me (Yes. It was a squirrel. I'd just fallen several feet in an immortal car I'd promised not to wreck in a year that was definitely not 1930. Cut me some slack.) chattered angrily and darted up its tree. I swallowed and looked around. We were surrounded by trees. Lots and lots and lots of trees. Awesome. Next to me, Annabeth was also looking around. She had a stick stuck in her curly blonde hair and a long thin scratch on her cheek, presumably from the same stick. I glanced in the backseat, where Jason had somehow gotten himself turned completely around and had his head stuck under Annabeth's seat. Marie's eyes were huge and she was reaching into her pocket. She slowly pulled out a stick of Hubba Bubba Max and popped it into her mouth, all without ever looking away from the forest. Percy leaned forward and hesitantly pulled the stick from Annabeth's hair. It was he who broke the silence. (If you can call being surrounded by squirrels silent.)

"Where are we?"

"Correction." grunted Jason as he hauled himself up, picking twigs out of his gorgeous hair. "When are we?"

"I don't know." I said shakily. "I think we went back a bit too far."

"You think?" snapped Jason. Percy got out of the car and surveyed the damage.

After a few moments, he threw up his hands. I didn't know people actually threw up their hands in frustration, but there you go. "I know nothing about cars." He sighed. "Give me a seventeenth century whaler ship any day… where's Hephaestus when you need him?"

The rest of us got out of the car. I tucked Apollo's keys into my pocket and swallowed. Oh dear. I was going to become a legend. Apollo was going to kill me, and with the way his car looked, there was absolutely no chance of me being placed among the stars. The paint job was scratched up and the car was dented. I'm sure something was knocked loose in the engine when it fell. As we stood there, looking sadly at the remains of Apollo's chariot, there was the sudden snap of a twig behind us, and my heart jumped into my throat. I didn't think that actually happened in real life either, but hey. Go figure. I was learning a lot this trip.

We spun around and Percy's hand flew to his pen, Annabeth's to her dagger, Marie and Jason to their respective swords. I just remembered I had a dagger and tried to remember where I'd put it. Behind us, however, stood a young woman and a baby. Definitely not a demon monster bent on destruction. Although, maybe. Books and their covers and such, you know? Her eyes were wide as she stared at us. She was pretty, but not extravagantly so, with long brunette hair and wide blue eyes. We stared back. After a few moments of staring suspiciously at each other, she spoke.

"What be you, children?" Her suspicious voice was layered with an English accent. What the heck? Were we still in America? "Be you spirits?"

We glanced around at each other. Were we spirits? We were half god, so…

"Yes." Jason declared. I looked at him in surprise. Okaaaay. Apparently we were now spirits. Did that mean we were dead?

The woman gasped. "Servants of the Evil One?" She clutched her baby to her chest and backed slowly away.

"No no no." Annabeth hurriedly corrected her. "We serve…"

"We serve no one." Percy interceded. "Tell us… what year is it?"

The woman looked close to terrified. "It is the Year of our Lord, 1587." She whispered. In her arms, the baby cooed. Ok, so, 1587. Slightly before 1930. Well, shoot.

Marie snapped her gum and the woman jumped. Annabeth stepped forward holding out her hands comfortingly. "Please, ma'am, we will not harm you."

"Leave me, Spirits!" She cried, backing away. "Do not come any closer. Take your fellows and leave our village!"

Fellows? Annabeth looked at Percy helplessly. He gave her a look like "what am I gonna do?" I swallowed. "Um, excuse me." The woman looked at me. "What's your name?"

The woman swallowed. "Eleanor." She whispered.

"Please, Eleanor." I had no idea where I was going with this. "We swear on… our, um, lives that we will not hurt you or your baby."

At the mention of her baby, Eleanor froze. "Virginia."

Annabeth gasped. I glanced at her. Why did the name Virginia ring a bell? Other than it being a state, of course. Wait… Virginia's a state, right? Right… I've always sucked at geography. But I was mildly good at history, despite my dyslexia… What? I thought it was interesting. Sue me. And the year 1587 combined with a baby named Virginia… oh my gods.

"Roanoke." I whispered, secretly pleased with myself that I'd figured it out. Take that, dyslexia and ADHD stereotypes! Jason looked sideways at me.

"What?"

"Roanoke." Annabeth repeated my words, slightly awed. "We've landed at the Lost Colony of Roanoke."

Marie coughed loudly. I think she swallowed her gum again. Someone should really have taken that away from her before she choked.

Eleanor looked frightened. (So what else was new? We weren't that scary. Really.) "Yes, Sir Raleigh has claimed this land in the name of Her Majesty the Queen."

Percy tapped Annabeth on the shoulder and brought his lips close to her ear, which turned this funny but totally unsuspicious shade of pinky red. (Ok, Annabeth.) She nodded to whatever he said while I tried to remember everything I knew about Roanoke, which turned out to be not a whole-heck-of-a-lot. I was slotted to take US History next year, and I was proud I'd remembered the baby thing. Let's see… Walter Raleigh was in charge of it, obviously the first baby born in America was born there (Aha! Virginia Dare! Look at that random historical fact coming back to help me later in life.), and the second batch of colonists were never heard from again. Awesome. Knowing my luck, we were about to die in some sort of mysterious historical disaster. On the bright side, if we did manage to survive, we could go back to our time and… never ever tell anyone about this, because if we did, we'd be exposing the entire world to the existence of ancient Greek gods. Some bright side.

In Eleanor's arms, Virginia started to hiccup, then, without warning, burst into tears. The fear drained out of Eleanor's face as her motherly instincts took over. She rocked her baby on her hip and glanced up at us. She appeared to be considering something. Finally, she took a deep breath. "If it pleases the spirits…" She began. "I-I have a… request I would ask you."

We looked around at each other. Geez, we really needed to elect some sort of spokesperson. It was Marie who spoke up first.

"Uh, sure. Shoot."

Eleanor's eyes widened. "Shoot?" Virginia's crying had died down to sniffles and whimpers.

Jason cut in smoothly before Marie had a chance to say anything else. "Pay no attention to her, Lady Eleanor." He gave the girl a warm smile. "What be your request?"

Hey, I was impressed. I wondered why Jason was still unclaimed and had spent all that time cooped up in the crowded Hermes cabin. He was one smooth sucker. A smooth, attractive sucker, if I may remind any of you who may have forgotten, because I sure haven't. Oh baby.

Eleanor smiled hesitantly. "Our village has recently been plagued with a number of spirits, and if they be the same as yourselves…"

Jason nodded. "We'd be happy to rid your fair colony of any unwanted spirits, ma'am."

Eleanor let out a held breath. "Thank you, kind spirits." She said formally. "However, you must tread cautiously. The…" She glanced behind her and for the first time I noticed smoke rising lazily up over the tops of the trees. "We do not take kindly to the spirits here."

Yeah, that's right…In about a hundred years, you people would be burning witches at the stake. Geez, we were gonna have to be careful. I wondered briefly why Eleanor was risking everything even standing here talking to us. This was so out of character, historically.

Annabeth must have been thinking the same thing. "Eleanor, why exactly are you risking a place in your village to even speak to us?"

Eleanor looked slightly surprised at her question and her gaze went involuntarily to her baby. In that instant, I knew.

"Are you afraid for Virginia?" I asked quietly. She nodded.

"Virginia is the first child to have been born in this land." She whispered. "I must protect her with my life. We have had troubles with the neighboring savages, but nothing like the attacks we are now enduring from the spirits. Please," She hugged Virginia close to her. "You must help us."

Suddenly, a twig snapped behind her, and a gruff, manly-type voice called out. "Eleanor? Is that you?"

Eleanor looked panicked. "They mustn't see you!"

Annabeth instantly turned and vaulted over the car. Literally. It was possibly the most athletic thing I'd ever seen. I darted around the side of the car, not wanting to attempt the same type of gymnastics that would certainly spell out my doom. I crouched next to Annabeth and Marie and peeked over the side of the car. Then a thought struck me. The car! What on earth were we going to do about the car?

Apparently Eleanor had the same thought because at that moment, she spun on her heel, her dress fluttering up to show her cream-white ankles. (Gasp! Scandalicious!) Clutching Virginia as tight as she dared, she darted away into the woods towards the source of the voice.

We remained silent, listening. Voices floated back to us, an accusing man's followed by Eleanor's worried tones. I couldn't make out actual words, though, no matter how I listened.

Finally the voices floated away and the squirrel-infested woods were silent once more (well, sort of). I swallowed.

"Spirits?" Percy raised an eyebrow at Jason. "Great. How exactly are we supposed to banish spirits?"

Jason shrugged darkly. "It was either that or get banished ourselves. Do you want to get burned at the stake, Perseus?"

Percy frowned, a look of irritation slashed all over his features. "Look…"

Annabeth stepped forward. "Can you two argue later?" She ran her fingers through her silky blonde hair. "We need to banish those spirits and get out of here so we can actually complete our quest." She pulled the crumpled Yankees cap from her back pocket and punched it to make the hat part a bowl again. She glanced around. "Hey, where did Marie go?"

There was a clank and a clatter and Marie poked her head out from beneath the hood of the car. She snapped her gum.

"So, I think just this little do-hicky here came off." She pointed into the engine that none of us could see because the hood was in the way, blew a bubble, and didn't wait for a response. "I may not be a Hephaestus kid, but my dad is the god of travelers. I should be able to figure something out."

Jason leaned backwards against the car door. "I'll stay here with Marie. You, Percy, and Annabeth should go take care of whatever is terrorizing Roanoke. It's probably just a few mischievous nymphs anyway."

I suddenly realized he was talking to me and felt my cheeks heat up. Why me? It wasn't like I was in charge or anything. It was when I saw Annabeth and Percy watching and waiting for my go-ahead that I realized hey, maybe I was. Ohhhh, snap. Me in charge of anything was baaaaad news.

"This is your quest, Maggie." Annabeth said quietly, holding her hat. "What do you think?"

Everyone watched me. My quest? I felt sweat break out on my palms and tried (but failed) to inconspicuously wipe them on my pant legs. Yes, I'm aware of how very attractive that sounds. "Um… I guess that sounds fine."

They nodded and we were off, tiptoeing through the woods, leaving Marie and Jason behind. I glanced over my shoulder until they were out of sight—Marie bent over the engine, jaw working furiously, and Jason looking darkly at his fingernails. Who knew that boy was so into hygiene? I stumbled over a root, catching myself on a conveniently placed tree. I glanced up at the smoke rising above the tree tops. Almost there. Then, we could go back to the car, throw it into drive, find the 1930s, and save the Empire State Building. Just…

A scream broke through the silence, one that I recognized as Eleanor's. Annabeth gasped, recognizing it too. "Percy, Eleanor!"

He drew Riptide and the three of us started running. I fumbled with my dagger, just managing to draw it as we stopped just before the trees thinned out. Something was moving in the village… and it sure as heck wasn't the villagers. Ohhh, dear. This might be a little harder than we had anticipated.

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**Reviews are much appreciated... Thank you for reading! :)**

**Love**

**Allie  
**


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